Alfred H. Stone Collection
Volume: 50

15. James Freeman Clarke, Slavery in the United States. A Sermon Delivered in Amory Hall, on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 1842 (Boston: Benjamin H. Greene, 1843). (25 p.)

Anti-slavery sermon using Hebrew 13:3 as its text. “Remember them that are in bonds as bound with them.” The sermon is divided into three parts, the first being a catalogue of evils associated with slavery. The second part deals with the “sinfulness” of slavery, while the third part refutes five common objections to the abolition of slavery. 1) “We ought to let the whole matter alone. We have nothing to do with it. It is a Southern matter, and should be left exclusively to the South.” 2) “But you can do nothing. The North cannot do anything for the slave. We cannot approach him. And if we could, the system is too deeply rooted, and too extensive to be overthrown by human efforts. We must leave it to the Providence of God.” 3) “But the blacks cannot take care of themselves.” 4) “They do not wish to be free. They are very happy as they are.” 5) “But they are not intended to be free. They are an inferior race.”